The Elegant and the Monstrosity
by Nightshade2917
Summary: Could these cold hearted monsters show compassion and love? Could a few humans, a hybrid, and a huntress change the hearts of their people from engaging in a three-way war with their species? Can friendship, trust, and love prevail from a full on invasion of two alien species? Can they see past their differences and learn to accept each other? Read and find out for yourselves.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer, I do not own the xenomorph or Yautja species. I only own my OCs for this series.

Prologue

Heavy panting and footsteps were heard in the dark, ominous forest. A young girl was running for her life from this Hell. "I have to get help," said the frantic teen in between gasps running for her life. Her deep navy blue eyes were wildly searching for a way out of the vast woods of Walden, Massachusetts.

Then all of a sudden, a bloodcurdling shriek was heard, reverberating throughout the forests. She stopped running and tried to turn around towards the screams when she heard the creature's footsteps. She was running again, trying to get away from the beast that was pursuing her.

She ran and ran as fast as her legs could endure the burning pain of exhaustion. But the creature would not give up on the chase so easily. It pursued her relentlessly until she tripped over a root and fell face flat onto the ground.

The teen froze in fear when she heard the hissing sound of the creature. The hiss was all she heard before the creature leapt right on top of her and pinned her to the ground.

The creature was a xenomorph with a ridged head dome, sharp teeth, claws, and tail. The creature was towering over the whimpering human girl. She started to sob, knowing that her death was around the corner. The xeno lifted its barbed tail towards her neck as she closed her eyes, not wanting to see the vicious creature enjoying the beginning of her end. Her heart was racing faster and faster. The creature gave out a deafening screech before everything faded to black.

The girl's name was Kara Enigma, and she was about to be slain by an alien.


	2. Chapter 1 Nightmare Night

Chapter 1: Nightmare Night

How the fuck did I get into this hellhole! This was suppose to be a scary fun night on Halloween, not a night running for your life from a living nightmare. This whole thing started a few hours ago.

"Ahhh! HELP ME SISTER, I CUT MY FINGER OFF!"

I rushed out of my room into my little sister's, where I found her on her bed holding her left arm. My eyes widened in horror when I saw the blood on her white sleeve. I rushed to my sister and yelled, "What the Hell did you do?! Chop it off?!" But my little sister only laughed and brought her hand out of her "bloody" sleeve.

"I got you good this time." She laughed even louder. "I can't believe that you fell for that old trick in the book. Priceless." I rolled my eyes and said to her, "Hardy har har." Then I started to applaud her for her trick. "Congratulations Lily Enigma, you just won the 'scare the shit out of your older sister' contest."

Lily only laughed even harder and said with a sly grin, "Wow Kara, you need to chill; it's only a harmless prank for Halloween."

Oh yeah, today is October 31, when we teenagers scare the crap out of people. The thought of scaring people brought a smile to my face. My little sister saw the smirk and asked me, "So what kind of creepy scary costume are you wearing tonight?"

Before I could answer her question, my little brother Leo came in. "Uh, Kara… your friend Emma is here. She... she and the others are in the living room." Ugh, how could I have forgotten that Emma and the gang were coming here so that we could plan the 'who to scare the crap out of them first' game we always do every single year on Halloween. "Thank you Leo for reminding me of our little meeting today." Leo just nodded and said, "Don't get into too much trouble with Maddy this year. Remember what happened last time you pulled a prank on her; she called mom on you for that."

Ah yes, I remembered that year. Heck that was the best prank we did on her that year on little miss prissy. The gang and I dressed up as extraterrestrials and threatened to probe her brains out and feed her heart to the queen. She ran to her mommy and daddy screaming about the aliens were going to kill her. Man, that was so much fun even though we all got grounded for two whole weeks because of it, but it was totally worth it.

All three of us ran down the stairs and into the living room, where the gang was waiting. Mom was there serving them a delicious, mouth watering plate of sugar cookies that were shaped like pumpkins, ghosts, bats, and blood droplets. Mom noticed us and said, "Now that Kara, Lily, and Leo are here, I will leave you guys to your little Halloween prank meeting. But I will say this, if I find out that you are going to frighten that poor Madeline this year with another death threat, I will make sure that you will serve a more extreme punishment."

And with that comment, she left the room so that we could make plans in peace. "Well, that went well considering that we all got house arrest from that prank we did last year," said a very tall teen girl with violet eyes and brown amber hair.

"Yeah I know right, that was so uncool," replied a boy with grey eyes and black, blue, and dark blue hair who was sitting on the couch with his feet on the coffee table. I rolled my eyes at him and pushed his feet off the table.

He gave me a 'what was that about' look with his arms outstretched in front of him. I just gave him one of my cold stares before telling him, "You know that my mom doesn't like it when you put your feet on the coffee table." He just huffed and murmured to himself about me being the disciplinary from an anime he watches.

Then my sister started to speak. "Ahem, if I recall correctly, we only have about two hours to create our annual Halloween scare theme and put on our costumes before the little kids start the fun without us."

Everyone in the room went silent before Leo started to speak. "Uh… technically sister, we have two hours, fifteen minutes, and 23 seconds before Halloween trick or treating even begins."

"Right, we have to stay focused and plan our scare-a-thon for tonight's Halloween," I stated before anyone else could. Then the girl with violet eyes stood up and replied, "You are totally right Kara The Dark One. WE really have to get things done." I nodded in response to my friend, Emma, for her pep talk.

After that little talk we had, everyone started planning our pranks on our next victims. All eleven of us had a certain part in the plan. I was going to dress up as catwoman in Batman the animated series and trick the little children into giving me their candy. Emma was going to dress up as a zombie bride and creep out the young jocks on our high school football team. My cuz Damon, the guy with grey eyes and black, blue, and dark blue hair from earlier, was going to be a count vampire and spray the cheerleaders with fake blood all over them with a water gun. My twin siblings Lily and Leo had the best prank ever in our plan. The twins were going to dress up as the twins from a Japanese song called Servant of Evil and demand that the owners of the houses give them all of their candy. If they refuse, they would do a mini version of the skeleton going to a drive through but with a baby skeleton in a stroller.

After a few hours of making everyone in our neighborhood scream and laugh at our pranks, we finally decided to head over to Emma's place for a sleepover Halloween party. But the only problem was that her house was 84 blocks away from us, which meant we had to walk seven whole miles to get to her house. Plus we were exhausted from running throughout the town. So in the end we decided to take a shortcut through the deep forest that was approximately 5 miles away from her house. And boy, I wished we actually walked the seven miles on the street.

"Umm… are you sure we are supposed to be walking in the forest at night?" said the shy boy in our group.

"Yeah I'm sure, nothing really to worry about, Andy. As long as we stick together as a group, nothing - and I repeat, nothing - will happen to us," said Emma

Then I started to get a really bad headache. Oh no, it's happening again! I started to lose my footing on the path that we were taking and fell to my knees while holding my head in the pain. "Kara!" cried both Lily and Leo as they rushed to my side. I started getting some images in my head of my friends screaming and these… these creatures attacking us. Then I saw one of the creature up close and personal hovering above me with a rigid domed head staring at me. The vision ended abruptly and I was pulled back into reality with all my friends gathering around me in a little circle.

I looked at them with sacred light blue eyes as sweat dripped down my face. Damon was the first to speak, "Kara what's wrong? It looked like you saw the grim reaper himself." I just closed my eyes and tried to find my voice to speak to them about my vision, but all I could say was, "We… need to get out of here NOW." Everyone just looked at me like I was crazy.

Then Johnny cuckled to himself before he said, "You gotta be joking. Are you telling us that we are in 'grave danger' or something?"

I was shivering from the cold and the horrible vision. "All that I am saying is that I have a terrible feeling that something is going to happen to us badly," I said shakily while trying not to choke.

"Oh, so are you telling me that you're physic all of the sudden?" retorted Johnny, which made everyone except Lily, Leo, Damon, and Emma laugh.

All of a sudden, Sally shrieked when she heard noises in the lush vegetation. Everyone stopped laughing and looked in the direction of the sudden disturbance. A deer came jumping out of the trees, making everyone laugh again.

Before Johnny could comment about that jump scare, a hiss came from the trees. And before we knew what was going to happen next, a few dark figures came out on the path with the moonlight shining on their dark skin.

I was frozen with fear and my blood turned to ice when I saw them. "Oh my God, you guys scared us to death," said Lily.

"No one has ever done that before," Leo commented.

"Yeah, and man those are some sexy costumes there, fellows," Emma said with a purr. The dark figures looked at each other and started to hiss quietly before some of them started to crawl closer to us.

I was going to tell them to run when a loud growl was heard. A seven foot tall figure jostled its way to the front of the line and started to look at each and every one of us. "Ah, dudes, you can stop acting now. We know that you scared the shit out of us already. Don't try and make this creepier than it already is," said my perturbed cousin. But the figure ignored Damon and resumed its gaze while circling around us until it stopped and looked at me.

Everyone started to step away from me, leaving me all alone with the strange creature. I stopped breathing for a second when the creature advanced.

"Um dude, what the fuck are you doing, man. You're starting to creep us out, man. And what the hell are you doing to Kara? She done nothing to you, so leave her alone," said Johnny. But the creature turned toward Johnny and gave a loud hiss in annoyance which made the rest of the pack anxious and shrieking with delight.

"Kara," I heard my little sister say with a shaky voice, "I'm scared. I want to go home."

Tears were forming in my eyes as I pleaded to God to help us. Then I heard a soft series of soothing purrs coming from the creature. The purrs somehow made me relax a bit, as if I were sitting on a nice sandy beach with the warm sun on my skin. I started to close my eyes so that I just shut everything out. Then the creature started to come even closer than before and was about to caress my cheek. But before it could even touch me, my aura sense kicked in, and I could see the creature's hands coming at me. I snapped out of the trance, grabbed its slimy hand, and threw the creature over me to the ground at a ridiculously fast speed.

The creatures were so shocked at the sudden reflex that they started to rush to the figure that was on the ground. The gang was staring at me with awe and shock before I snapped them out of the daydream and yelled, "RUN!" Once I said that, everyone started to run in all different directions. I grabbed both Lily and Leo's hands and started to run with them behind me.

POV xenos

"Shadowheart!" cried the drones. The warrior xenomorph slowly started to get up off the ground, still shocked about what just happened. Shadowheart groaned softly before starting to crack his neck and straighten out his arms.

Then a praetorian started coming over to Shadowheart and asked him telepathically, "What are we going to do about those humans that scurried away?"

Shadowheart turned to look at the praetorian and said to everyone in their hunting group, "Kill and harvest those humans for our Queen. But the human that threw me to the ground is MINE." he stated coldly as he left to pursue the girl. Everyone else started to track the humans down.

POV Kara

I was literally dragging my siblings so that they could keep up with me, but all that they were doing was slowing me down. Lily gasped when we heard the fast approaching footsteps coming our way. Then Leo yelped when he got grabbed by one of the creatures, and his hand slipped out of my grasp as he tried to claw at the ground. I took out my whip and smacked the creature's hand as it yelped in pain. Leo stood up and went right behind me as I faced the creature. The creature hissed at me angrily . But I stood my ground so I could protect my younger siblings from those cold blooded killers.

Then the creature started to attack me. I dodged, blocked, and struck the monster with my raw power of handling a whip. After a few minutes of fighting them, with neither side getting the upper hand in the brawl, I started to turn towards my brother and sister and said to them, "I want you two to run NOW!"

Leo and Lily looked at each other with sad expressions and asked simultaneously, "But what about you?"

I kicked one of the creatures in the stomach before it could reach my siblings and told them, "Don't worry about me. I will keep them at bay, for now. Whatever happens to me, don't look back. Just keep running." Leo was about to protest, but I shouted, "JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

And with that the twins started to run for their lives. The creatures saw them running and tried to pursue them, but I blocked them by getting in between my siblings and the monsters, keeping from getting any closer. I saw them hissing and growling at me as I smirked and said, "You're NOT getting my little brother and sister when I'm around." They hissed even louder at that comment before I finished what I was stating, "I won't let you get what remaining family members I have left. So come at me, bitches!" I was prepared for what they were planning next, but the creatures didn't attack me nor did they listen to my nasty back talks.

I tried to stop them from hunting my little brother and sister, but I was pushed to the ground by a very powerful force. When I looked up I saw the creature from before pinning me down to the ground. All the blood in my body stopped, making me look as pale as a ghost. The creature hissed and brought out its second mouth as I gasped at how close the "tongue" was to my face. Then I kicked the creature off of me and tried to pin it down but failed. We started to tumble down the hill with each other trying to pin the other to the ground.

In the end I ended up on top of the creature. We were only an inch away from each others faces, a little too close for my comfort. I started to blush furiously. The creature must have seen me blushing because it was starting to purr like before. I started to shiver from the mesmerizing purr and the vibration in my hands from its chest. Then the creature started to move its tail to wrap around my waist, but I was quick and rolled my way out before its tail wrapped me in a tight embrace.

I started running again. Going deeper and deeper into the dark forest. Not knowing what will happen next.

And that was what happened to me before all of this running for my life from creatures that only exist in your worst nightmares. I pray I don't die a horrible death.


	3. Chapter 2 Plans

Chapter 2: Plans

Uhh… what happened? All I remember is… is…. no, no it can't be true! They can't be... dead. I have to find them. I have to save them! I started to slowly open my eyes to examine my surroundings. I was in a dimly lit, cold, damp cave. I noticed that there was a small hole in the ceiling above me that let in a little bit of light from the full moon.

When I tried to sit up, I touched something very soft and fuzzy. I grabbed a chunk of the substance and brought it up to what little light I had from the moon. The soft squishy stuff was fresh moss, which was gathered and put together to form a bedding. I gasped at the realization of what had happened to me. I brought my hand to my chin as I tried to remember what occurred while I was out. Thoughts about who saved me and how I've escaped entered my maelstrom of though. Then out of the blue I started to remember the creature. I pondered what happened to me when I was knocked out cold, but little did I realize that I was not alone in the cave.

POV Narrator

As Kara tried to recall what exactly happened to her and her family and friends, something stirred in the dark shadows of the cave. It was the same creature that chased her in the forest and the very one that brought her here in this cave. The creature was perched on the wall closest to the girl.

He began to slowly climb down from his perch, silent as a cat stalking its prey, and advanced towards the girl.

POV Kara

Something isn't right. I feel that someone or something is in here, with me, and is coming closer. I closed my eyes and started to focus on the aura. My vision turned blue, even though my eyes were closed. I saw everything in the cave, even the rocks, as if I had night vision goggles on.

Then I felt someone coming closer and felt that I might be in grave danger, just like how Spiderman uses his spidey sense to anticipate an upcoming danger. I turned my head towards the wall and saw the fiendish creature that had attacked me and my family and friends. I quickly opened my eyes and moved away from where the creature was on the wall until my back was against the nearest rock opposite the creature. My heart was beating faster and faster as I saw it coming closer to me.

The creature was now hovering above me in a crouching position and looking at me with empty eye sockets. My eyes were searching for a way to escape from the monster in front of me, but I couldn't find a way to maneuver around the fiend. Damn it! Why am I so helpless; I always know what to do in this kind of situation! Oh fuck me!

After thinking that, I noticed the creature backing away a little bit and looking at me very curiously. Then a soft series of purrs started to break the cold silence. I started to shiver again from the mesmerizing purrs of the creature as it started to come even closer to me. It was so close that I could feel its warm breath on my face. I felt scared, awkward, and calm all at the same time. Suddenly I gasped as I felt its tail starting to wrap around my waist and its muzzle nuzzling my neck.

Crap, crap, crap! WTF is this monster doing?! I just want him off NOW! I meekly whispered, "Get off of me," and just like that he backed away from me like he could understand what I was saying.

I looked at him queerly as he sat a few inches away from me. Then I shakily asked, "Can you understand me?" No response came from the creature, so I asked again, "Can you understand me, yes or no?" This time I got a response from him. The creature nodded his head 'yes.'

Ten thousand questions I wanted to ask about the creature came rushing into my head, but I knew I had to ask it the important questions first. "Since you can understand me, I have to know… What happened to the others that were with me?" I said a little bit shakily. The creature looked down at the ground in response, so I pushed onward. "Are they dead or alive? Shake your head 'yes' for if they are alive, and 'no' if they are dead."

It stopped for a second before shaking 'yes' and 'no' at the same time.

I didn't understand, so I asked the creature, "What do you mean alive and dead? Are they alive or not?" The creature nodded 'yes' that they were alive and then shook 'no,' meaning that they were not alive. I frowned in frustration and in anger, then stood up and said furiously, "What the hell are you trying to tell me?! Are they alive now but will die soon?" The creature then started to nod its head 'yes' a lot.

I started to sink on my knees to the cold floor as tears threatened to fall down my face. I buried my face in my hands as I began to cry my heart out for my family and friends that were about to die.

Then I felt something on my shoulder. I lifted my head up to see the creature next to me with its hand on my shoulder to comfort me. I had to admit, the friendly jester did help me to calm down from the sudden bad news. I looked at him and asked, "What is your name?"

The creature removed its hand from my shoulder and tilted its head, as if thinking of what to say. Then it straightened up, started to climb up the wall towards where the hole in the low ceiling of the cave was, and started to dig.

Debris started to fall next to my feet as I watched the creature making the hole even bigger. Once it was done digging, it fell to the ground with the grace of a feline. I watched as it stepped into the light of the moon and pointed to its shadow. I started to guess what his name was and said, "Is your name Shadow?" The creature noded 'yes' and then shook his head 'no.' I was puzzled for a moment before he came up to me and knelt on one knee and touched the area where my heart was.

I then started to put two and two together and said, "Is your name Shadowheart?" He nodded his head 'yes' in response and then pointed at me. I blinked for a bit before realizing why he pointed at me. I gave a small, meek smile before telling Shadowheart, "My name is Kara. Kara Enigma."

Shadowheart noded in response and started to sit a little closer to me. I felt a little awkward for the moment before I started getting another one of those headaches again. Oh no! What the heck is it this time?

My head felt like it was being torn apart as my mind opened up and I saw images of Emma, Damon, Leo, and Lily, all unconscious on the floor, with dark shadows surrounding them in different rooms. As I thought about what it meant, my vision ended. Shadowheart was hovering above me and looking at me to see if I was alright. All I gave him was a cross face as I started to growl at him irritably and shout with my teeth clenched together, "You LIED!"

He backed away in shock and bewilderment at the sudden mood swing. I continued to speak as I slowly stood up and walked a few steps towards him. "You lied, you said that they were going to DIE! But they're alive! I saw them, I saw my family and friends unconscious on the floor!"

Shadowheart tried to calm me down, but it was pointless to even try calming down a hothead like me when I was enraged. Then I screamed at him, "You knew they were alive and weren't going to die, didn't you?!"

Before I could continue telling him what a bastard he was, Shadowheart hissed at me to be quiet and angrily said telepathically, "Do you want the whole hive to hear you and then kill you?"

I was dumbfounded that he was using telepathy to communicate with me. Then I said, "So you can speak then?"

Shadowheart gave a small nod before saying in a deep voice, "Yes, I can communicate with you telepathically, and I can read your thoughts."

"Oh, so you know that I am going to say something like, 'why didn't you telepathically tell me that my friends are alive and are going to die then?'" I retorted angrily with my hands on my hips.

He took a deep breath before replying, "Because I didn't trust you."

I gave a small huff and said, "Well that makes two of us, bud. Now tell me, why did you lie to me?"

Confused, Shadowheart looked at me before saying, "I did not lie that your friends are going to die soon." He took a short pause before saying, "They should be impregnated by now; you can't save them even if you tried. Once they've been impregnated it is almost impossible to safely remove the embryo without harming the host."

I looked at him with hatred in my eyes as I hissed, "Impregnated with what!?"

He came closer to me, making me a bit uncomfortable with him leaning close to my ear as he whispered, "Your friends are impregnated with the embryos of my species."

My eyes widened in shock and realization that Shadowheart was a xenomorph. A cold-hearted creature that captures hosts to impregnate them with facehuggers and infect everyone in the area to produce more of its kind. Then it hit me, that this cave wasn't just a cave; it was a xenomorph hive with a queen producing more of those parasites to produce more xenomorphs.

Shadowheart must have read my mind and said very coldly with a hint of frustration in his tone, "Yes, I am a 'cold-hearted' killer that gathers hosts to have them impregnated with my brothers and sisters. And yes, we are in my Hive, in my sleeping chamber."

I started to blush a bit for being in a guy's bedroom and sleeping on his bed. Then I shook the thought out and said, "No, it can't be. My friends are still alive and not impregnated."

Shadowheart tilted his head in confusion before saying, "How do you know if they have or haven't been impregnated with my now growing sibling in your friends' chests?"

I looked at him straight in the 'eye' and said, "I know they are not impregnated because a dead facehugger would be next to their bodies."

Shadowheart just shook his head in confusion before I pleaded, "Please, Shadowheart, l want to know if they are alive." I gave him tearful puppydog eyes.

Shadowheart turned around and started to pace back and forth before he finally stopped and said in defeat, "Alright, you can see you friends in the morning when almost everyone in the Hive is asleep, but I'm telling you that there are no promises that they're alive or not. OK?"

My eyes lit up as I jumped and hugged him in thanks. He was so dumbfounded by the sudden gesture that I swore I saw him blushing. He said awkwardly, "Umm… you're welcome." I let go of him and gave a little yawn. He noticed it and said, "You should get some sleep so that you are ready to see your friends in the morning. You can sleep on the bed that I made you." He pointed to the moss bed as I started to walk sleepily towards it.

He then said, "If you need anything, just telepathically call me." I nodded my head in response, and then I started to take off my catwoman mask to let my pale, gold, shoulder-length hair fall carelessly free.

I then saw Shadowheart staring at me in awe, even blushing a bit before I asked him, "Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?"

This question snapped him out of his daydream, but all he said was, "Because you are my Other." Before I could respond and ask him what he meant by 'my Other,' he just vanished into the darkness like a ninja.

I started to lay down on the soft moss and closed my eyes so I could finally get some rest. As I drifted off to sleep, I started to plan a way to get me, Lily, Leo, Damon, and Emma out of the Hive.

I hope that I am not too late to save the ones I care about.


	4. Chapter 3 Escape

Chapter 3: Escape

POV Shadowheart

I was sleeping soundly when the warmth of the sun on my black skin stirred me from my slumber. I yawned sleepily as I rose from where I was resting and climbed over towards Kara so that I could have this dilemma done and over with already.

As I stealthily crawled over to where Kara was resting on the bed of moss I made for her, I couldn't help but stare at the beautiful female that I was inexplicably attracted to. I knew that the Queen, my mother, wouldn't approve of having this human as my mate. So made up my mind and concealed her here, where almost no one ever came, because it was my private room.

I heard her groan a bit in her sleep. I twitched my tail in curiosity as I crawled a little bit closer to her. She look so peaceful when she was asleep; she even looked like an angel with the soft rays of the sun on her golden locks. I started to caress her soft silky hair for a while until she started to stir from her sleep.

POV Kara

I started to slowly wake up because of someone touching my hair. As I opened my tired eyes, I saw Shadowheart next to me. I groaned and started to sit up. "Uh, what time is it?" I asked tiredly.

All Shadowheart said was, "Midmorning. The Queen and most of my siblings should be sleeping in their rooms. Now you wait here while I get you some breakfast." I saw him disappear into the shadows as I waited for him to get food. Oh, how I hoped it was a nice, warm, mouth-watering plate of freshly baked pancakes with maple syrup.

All I heard was a crunching sound mixed with flesh being torn away from bone. I started to pale at what was about to happen next. Shadowheart came back carrying a blood-dripping slab of meat about the size of a big stake strip. He tossed it by my feet and said, "Eat, so you have energy." I made a fist with my right hand and brought it to my mouth to keep me from hurling all over the place.

Shadowheart tilted his head in confusion and asked, "You don't eat meat?"

"I only eat cooked meat, not raw meat," I replied weakly.

"What does cooked meat mean?" he asked curiously.

I took a deep breath and answered, "Cooked meat is when you prepare your meat by combining and heating the ingredients in various ways. The heat kills the bacteria and other micro-organisms in the meat so that you wouldn't get sick from eating it raw."

He just looked at me blankly and replied, "I've been eating raw meat ever since I was a chestburster, and I haven't been sick."

I shook my head and calmly stated, "We have different digestive systems. You probably have a good immune system and high stomach acids to be able to break down and digest raw meat better than my digestive system."

He just gave a little shrug and said, "Well, you have to eat something, so you can either eat the freshly killed deer meat or starve." Then he walked away and started to eat his own breakfast.

I didn't like the situation that I was in. I could a) hold my nose and eat the raw meat and pretend it was like medicine, because he probably wouldn't even know how to make a fire if I asked him to cook it, or b) I could skip breakfast altogether and be running on fumes with one of his siblings trying to kill me. I mentally sighed in defeat and then let my hand dangle next to my thigh. Oh, this is just great! Now what do I do, eat my mask?

Then I heard some crunching noises of something in a plastic wrapper. Wait a minute. Wrapper? Well, yesterday was Halloween, and I did get a lot of free candy from my neighborhood. I then started to untie the rope that was attached to my belt and examined my loot.

I was right; I had a ton of candy from yesterday that I hadn't devoured yet. I licked my lips and started to unwrap a fun size Chruch bar and munched on it happily. Shadowheart heard me unwrapping my chocolate bars and came back to investigate. I saw him staring at me while eating my third Halloween candy. I swallowed the candy and asked him, "You want to try one?"

He moved a little closer like a curious, lost puppy and replied, "What is it? And why does it smell so sweet?"

I let out a little giggle and said, "It's a chocolate bar. It is a mouth-watering sweet treat made out of cocoa powder, milk, sugar, and other ingredients. They're really good but also kinda sticky in the throat. Would you like to try one?" He nodded his head, and I unwrapped a Hershey's fun size bar and placed it in his hand. He sniffed at it before I saw it vanish in a flash with his second jaw. I saw a small smile on his face before he quickly rushed to find something to wash the chocolate down with.

I giggled some more and said, "So how was it?"

All he could say was, "Sticky."

I laughed a bit before grabbing my small frost-flavored Gatorade from my bag. After I took a few sips of my drink, Shadowheart said, "If you are finished with your breakfast, we can go now to the host chamber to see if your friends are there or not." I nodded my head in response as I got up and started to walk towards Shadowheart.

He then told me, "Now, I want you to stay close to me in silence so that you don't accidentally wake up my siblings from their sleep. Plus, I am very close to where the Royal Chamber is, so be alert at all times. Also, when I tell you to hide, HIDE, and be downwind from them so that they don't smell your pheromones." And with thatsaid we started to make our way out of Shadowheart's chamber.

I couldn't believe my eyeswhen I saw the secreted resin on the walls of the Hive. It was super cool with all the creepy designs and all, if it wasn't a place where your worst nightmares came to life and tried to kill you.

We kept on walking until Shadowheart said, "Hide, NOW!" I did as he said, ducked into an alleyway, and pressed my whole body against the slimy wall to conceal my presence.

POV Shadowheart

I saw someone coming towards us in the hall, so I told Kara to hide somewhere out of sight. As the figure came closer and closer, I realized that it was my praetorian brother Alastair. I relaxed a bit and calmly walked towards my friend.

"Hey Alastair!" I said telepathically. Alastair looked in my direction and said, "Couldn't sleep, brother?" I lied by giving him a nod; then I asked him, "So how come you are up so late? Did mother asked you to scout the facility with a few other warriors, drones, and runners?"

He nodded and said, "Yeah, the Queen wanted me and a few others to make sure that the humans were secured, that's all."

I looked at my brother questioningly and asked, "What do you mean?"

Alastair looked surprised and said, "Didn't you hear the Queen's demands from the meeting?"

I shook my head 'no' and replied, "I was a little bit preoccupied at the moment. So what happened?"

Alastair sighed and replied, "Well, apparently there were only six facehuggers left that hadn't impregnated any hosts yet, and there were four humans left, so mother assigned four of our siblings to watch over the remaining humans until she makes up her mind on what to do with them."

Oh yeah, I remembered now that our Queen hadn't laid any eggs in over sixteen years. We had to save whatever eggs were left for special occasions. I still didn't know why she hadn't laid any more eggs in sixteen years. The reason for this was probably because of our King's death almost two decades ago. Our Queen Abaddon and King Victor were in love with each other even before they escaped Walland facility many years ago. In his memory, she chose to not to find another mate.

Curious, I asked Alastair, "So, who in our Hive was chosen to babysit those soft fleshed humans?"

"Me, Violet, Crystal, and Prince Xenell were chosen to babysit those scared rabbits." Alastair snorted, shook his head, and said, "I don't know why our mother wanted those humans to live. If it were me, I wouldn't hesitate to kill those monsters with those machine guns of theirs."

I nodded my head in agreement. So Kara was right; they are alive and haven't been impregnated with chestbursters. I wonder what Queen Abbadon is up to.

As I pondered what our mother and queen was up to, I heard Kara's voice. "Where are they?!" My blood turned icy cold as I slowly turned around to see her standing there with an icy hatred in her dark navy blue eyes.

Alastair growled and said, "A HUMAN!? How in the Empress' name did a HUMAN get in here?!"

Kara's eyebrows furrowed as she angrily said, "It doesn't matter how I got here! Now tell me, WHERE ARE MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!?"

Alastair was shocked and said, "How the grots does she understand us?!"

Before I had the chance to explain things to him, Kara's eyes flashed a light blue and she said, "You know what, I don't need your help, xeno. I can find them on my own!" Then she started to run towards Alastair's chamber. I tried to grab her, but she turned around and waved her hand horizontally and unleashed an ice beam at both of our feet, making us immobile. I looked at her in awe and bewilderment that she could even do that. Once she was satisfied that we could not pursue her, she closed her eyes and turned away and started to run like one of our fastest runner xenomorphs towards Alastair's chamber.

Alastair hissed in rage as he tried to break the ice from our feet. Then Alastair said to me, "We have to contact the others and the queen." I just nodded my head in response while breaking the ice that confined me to the floor. Alastair contacted the Queen to seek her advice. "My Queen, I have some urgent news."

"What is it, my son? What news do you bring me that can't wait till nightfall?" replied the sleepy queen.

Alastair began to explain to the Queen of their predicament that were in. "A human female managed to discover our Hive's location."

"What!?" replied the Queen questioningly.

"Yes, she even knows where to find the humans that we kept alive. And now she is currently heading to my chamber to free the tall human female. What are your orders?"

The Queen was hesitating for a second before responding, "I will tell all of your brothers and sisters to pursue and capture the female intruder. Additionally, I will warn the others that are currently harboring the remaining humans to be alert. You should get back to your chamber immediately; I will send you some of your praetorian comrades with you. Also, does this human have any weapons with her?"

Alastair paused for a second to try and figure out how to explain this human's capabilities. "It's kinda hard to explain, mother."

"Go on," said the Queen.

"The female doesn't have any weapons with her, but she… she blasted Shadowheart and I with some sort of ice beam with her hands!"

"How could she do that?" questioned the Queen.

"I don't know how mother, but that human female is not an ordinary one that we have faced before."

"Alright", said the Queen, "I will contact the rest of the Hive about the intruder." Alastair nodded, finally broke free from his ice confinement and took a shortcut towards his bed chamber while I lagged behind several feet away on his tail.

POV Queen Abaddon

I slowly got up from where I was sleeping and went to where my royal guards were standing. I told them, "You four: Butch, Cassidy, Jessie, James. Go and assist your brother Alastair in his chamber. And be careful; the human female is dangerous." The four praetorians bowed their heads in respect and left to assist their fellow brother.

I then telepathically contacted the rest of my children. "My children." I heard a few complaints of how early it was but I continued. "I know that this is sudden, but our Hive is under siege by a human with unique powers. I want you to stop her from freeing the others and reporting our existence to Walland." Everyone in the Hive hissed at the mention of Bishop Walland because of how he tortured me, my late mate, and my Hive members. "Now go and capture her before they can escape!"

I heard every one of my children hissing and growling as they ran in hot pursuit of the female human. I went into the nursery where all of my newly hatched chestbursters were chatting and whispering to each other about what was happening. I gently and motherly lulled them to sleep by singing them the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Almost all of them fell immediately asleep, except for one. I came over to where my smallest daughter was and told her, "You should be asleep, young one; it is very late."

She just turned over to the other side and replied very meekly, "I … I am not sleepy, mother."

I bent down closer to Bella and asked her, "Why are you not sleepy?"

Bella just wrapped her tail even closer around her body and said, "Because… I… I'm scared, mother."

"Are you scared because of the human intruder?" I asked tenderly.

Bella nodded in response and said, "I'm afraid that the human is going to kill me."

Bella started to whimper silently as I tried to rub her back with my muzzle to sooth her frightened little body. Then I told her, "The human won't kill you, not when I'm around, my dearest youngling."

Bella stopped whimpering, turned towards me, and asked, "Do you promise?" I couldn't help but smile at her and said, "I promise, young one, only if you promise me that you would be brave, Bella."

The little chestburster noded and said, "I promise, mother." Then she drifted off to sleep as I got up and headed back to my throne room to plan what to do with the humans.

I just hoped that my children wouldn't see the brutalities of war and destruction any time soon.

I can only pray to our past Queens and Empresses for guidance in this kind of situation. I just hope that there is another way than having my sons and daughters die trying to protect my safety and risk theirs. Oh, Qellena help us in our time of need.


End file.
